In the pouring of concrete slabs, as for the floor of a building or the like, there is commonly employed a wire mesh that is initially laid on the ground and then lifted as wet concrete is poured thereover so that the mesh lies somewhere near the middle of the slab depth and is completely encompassed by concrete. This mesh then strengthens the concrete, and at least many building codes require the use of wire mesh and the proper placement of same in the wet concrete.
Conventionally, wire mesh is lifted by hand or possibly by use of a claw hammer as wet concrete is poured over the mesh. This lifting is necessary to locate the mesh within the concrete slab rather than merely underlying the slab. Lifting the mesh by hand is a back breaking job inasmuch as a concrete worker must continuously stoop over to grasp the mesh. Some workers have bent a piece of rebar so that they can stand up and pull wire mesh upwardly during pouring of concrete by catching the bent end under the mesh, and pulling upward as concrete is poured over the mesh. This is at most a clumsy arrangement and often the bent end of the rebar rod is not easily released from the mesh.
The present invention provides a hand tool for lifting or pulling wire mesh upwardly during concrete pouring to materially facilitate the job.